The ATP and WTA Tours have moved on another week and that means a brand new game will begin on Monday as the tournaments in Kitzbuhel, Washington and Carlsbad all will be kicking off. Usually Monday can be a quiet start to the week as the tournaments get going, but the ATP tournament in Washington has gathered a big field and there will be plenty of tennis being played throughout the day.
You can see the two outright picks I have made this week, as well as updated totals for the season, here.
The action will all begin in Austria in the final clay court event, and we will go through the day with action beginning in Washington and then Carlsbad.
Marcel Granollers - 5.5 games v Mate Pavic: I am pretty sure that Marcel Granollers will be kicking himself that he couldn't quite put Robin Haase away in the Quarter Final in Gstaad last week, but he should be able to make a good start in Kitzbuhel. He faces a young Wild Card opponent in Mate Pavic who has struggled to have an impact on the Tour so far and is now facing a player that is comfortable on the clay courts.
Pavic was beaten comfortably by Gael Monfils last week in Umag in front of his home supporters, and the 20 year old hasn't had a lot of experience at this level.
Young players can struggle to maintain the level required to keep up with the players that ply their trade on their main ATP Tour and that can prove to be the difference as they struggle to mentally keep up.
That can be the case for Pavic at the moment and you do see a lot of sets where he falls away and there is every chance that can happen again as he faces Granollers in the First Round. As long as the Spaniard can win the key points, as he can sometimes wander mentally, he should be able to take care of business with a routine 64, 62 win.
Andrey Kuznetsov - 3.5 games v Dominic Thiem: Another player receiving a Wild Card this week in Kitzbuhel is one of the home hopes in Dominic Thiem- the young Austrian player is a former winner of the prestigious Orange Bowl and also reached the Final at Roland Garros as a junior, although he is still cutting his teeth on the professional circuit.
Thiem has played a couple of Challenger events here and there this season, while his only main Tour experience has come at this event in the last couple of years. Last season, Thiem was beaten in three sets by Martin Klizan so he could give Andrey Kuznetsov some problems.
Kuznetsov is much more experienced than Thiem and he has been very strong at Challenger level and he has three titles at that level on the clay courts in the last twelve months. While the Russian hasn't been able to convert that to the ATP 250 level and beyond, he is still capable of beating players that are playing at the level below that.
The way that Kuznetsov can be a little erratic off the ground is a concern for him in any match, but I think he proves to be a little too strong in this one for the young Wild Card and comes away with a 64, 63 win.
Denis Istomin - 2.5 games v Santiago Giraldo: The hard courts are the kind of surface that both Denis Istomin and Santiago Giraldo should enjoy with the way they approach tennis, but I think it is Istomin that will receive the greatest benefit.
The hard courts in North America can be some of the faster courts on the Tour as the paying public there like seeing the quick attacking tennis that those courts generally provide. Istomin is a little under-rated as far as I am concerned and he certainly has the serve to build a foundation for success against a lot of players on the Tour on these surfaces.
While Giraldo also has a decent serve, I think he is the more erratic player off the ground and that may be the difference in the match. The Colombian can be very generous and give away a string of points with unforced errors and that may offer Istomin the chance to come through with a 64, 75 victory.
Sam Stosur - 3.5 games v Varvara Lepchenko: The tournament in Carlsbad has brought together some of the better players on the WTA Tour and so there are a few of these First Round matches that have put together a few of them.
Sam Stosur is a former US Open Champion and she has the serve to be very effective on the hard courts, although she was an early loser in Stanford last week when being surprised in the First Round. However, if the serve is working, Stosur can put a lot of scoreboard pressure on her opponent and that could be the case on Monday.
She is playing Varvara Lepchenko whose own serve can be a little erratic at times and I believe that will end up making the difference in this match. While Lepchenko will be able to get some easy service games under her belt, I am not convinced she has the returning game on the hard courts to keep Stosur at bay.
Last season was the best Lepchenko has had on the main WTA Tour, but she is only 4-8 on the hard courts this season and two of those wins came last week in Stanford. While Lepchenko pushed Agnieszka Radwanska last week, I think it is going to be more difficult to get back breaks of serve against Stosur if the Australian serves well and I like the higher Ranked player to come through 64, 64.
MY PICKS: Marcel Granollers - 5.5 Games @ 1.73 Bet 365 (2 Units)
Andrey Kuznetsov - 3.5 Games @ 1.80 Bet 365 (2 Units)
Denis Istomin - 2.5 Games @ 1.90 Pinnacle (2 Units)
Sam Stosur - 3.5 Games @ 1.96 Unibet (2 Units)
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